Ippudo - warning! It's a noodle love-in

The Boy and I are working our way around the ramen shops in NYC. Last night we went to the most famous of them all: Ippudo. We had tried to go three times already, each time with zero success. Each time, the wait was two hours, which is pretty long when you get there at 9.30pm!

I turned up at 6pm last night thinking we'd eat around 8pm. But it's summer in the city and was a drizzly night, so the wait was just 45 minutes to an hour. They took my number and told me to download an app, which told me how long my wait would be. How cool is that?

We only live a couple of  blocks away so I came home and waited here. I still can't get over that. Being able to just step out and go to these amazing restaurants that people rave about in about five minutes. Back home, I'd be halfway to the train station, which would whisk me to Bone Daddies or Tonkotsu or Shoryu.

Onto the food. Oh my. Our neighbour told us that the black miso cold was 'as good as Nobu's but way cheaper.' Well, it was very good, but not the best thing we ate all night. The cod was super tender and not overcooked (which I hate).

Then there was the delicious pork buns. Wow! I've not had the momofuku buns yet, but I'm looking forward to seeing how they match up. The bun was fluffy and the meat was super soft. Delicious. I have photos but don't know how to transfer them to my laptop. Annoying. I'll show you all in person!

Now, the ramen we went for was the Akamaru Modern, which is your standard tonkotsu broth with an additional umami paste. The soup baste is so complex. Oh, I'm salivating. Usually I like thick noodles, but I think I'd have been pushed over the edge if they had been. I was ready to pop!

I know this has been an ode to Ippudo but I know I'll crave it like I do the cumin lamb noodles from Xian Famous Foods. You know something's good when that happens. I'm starving...

All this really doesn't sit that well with my new Fitbit One. Despite hitting my 10,000 steps for the day, I only burnt 1,500 odd calories, which isn't great when you consume 2,200 calories. Oops! Damn your beauteous 900-calorie filled ramen, Ippudo. Apparently they open at 11am for lunch...